Rate My Professor David Feldon

Dr. David F. Feldon is Vice Provost for Graduate Studies and Professor of Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences in the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services at Utah State University. He earned a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education in 2004, with a dissertation on inaccuracies in expert self-reports of psychological experiment design strategies. He also holds an M.S.Ed. in Instructional Technology from USC in 1999 and a B.A. in Cognitive Science with a minor in Philosophy from Johns Hopkins University in 1997. Feldon's career includes prior faculty positions at the University of Virginia Curry School of Education, Washington State University, and the University of South Carolina, as well as postdoctoral roles at UCLA and USC. At USU, he served as founding Director of the STE²M Center from 2013 to 2016, Director of Graduate Program Assessment and Development from 2016 to 2017, and has progressed from Associate Professor to full Professor since joining in 2013.

Feldon's research characterizes cognitive components of expertise contributing to problem-solving and instruction in STEM disciplines, alongside the development of research skills via educational supports, technology-facilitated instruction, cognitive load, and motivation using brain imaging and eye-tracking. He is principal investigator on major grants, including $2.47 million from NSF for Trajectories into Early Career Research (2018-2022), $1.6 million for Progressions of Skill Development in Biology Doctorates (2014-2018), and a $1.7 million Institute of Education Sciences grant for computational thinking. He directs assessment for a $1 million Howard Hughes Medical Institute Inclusive Excellence grant at USU since 2017. Awards include the first AERA Fellowship for a USU faculty member, AERA Division D Significant Contribution to Educational Measurement and Research Methodology Award (2019, shared), USU ITLS Researcher of the Year (2017, 2018), and Fulbright Scholar appointment. Key publications encompass 'Graduate students’ teaching experiences improve their methodological research skills' (Science, 2011), 'Null effects of boot camps and short-format training for Ph.D. students in life sciences' (PNAS, 2017), 'Cumulative advantage in the skill development of STEM graduate students: A mixed methods study' (American Educational Research Journal, 2016), and 'Cognitive load as motivational cost' (Educational Psychology Review, 2019). His scholarship bridges cognition, motivation, and sociological factors for equitable STEM expertise development.